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into-control · 4 years

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🌹 camren recap of 2019: part 1 (january - march)

(1) (2) (3) (4)

this post contains almost everything to do with camren in 2019*. it also includes things about their respective PRs from this year, when relevant, and a little bit of OT5 is sprinkled in as well. this year i am keeping things in chronological order unlike last year, and entries that take place over the course of multiple days will be grouped together according to the first day.

*disclaimer: some of these things very well may be coincidences, but are included anyways because we all love lauren and camila’s synchronicity.

without further adieu, let the games begin!

january 4th:

at the beginning of january, lauren went on a vacation to a resort in sedona, arizona. while it was mostly a trip dedicated to herself, it was highly speculated among the community that camila visited her. during this time, camila tweeted this, on the day she possibly returned home to miami:

what’s more is that during the entire duration of lauren’s stay in sedona, camila’s spotify activity (which at the time was always public) was set to private. on the day lauren returned (january 7th), so did the spotify activity:

january 5th:

lauren and camila were active on instagram at the same time:

(more of a sync moment)

january 6th:

dinah liked an instagram post with a peculiar caption:

january 7th:

about 12 hours after lauren posted a song on her story, camila listened to it on spotify:

on january 25th, lauren referenced the song again:

january 8th:

dinah reposted someone else’s post on her story where havana is playing in the background:

on the same day, lauren did an IG live where she told everyone she wrote more than that 2-3 years ago. previously lauren had lied about when she started writing music:

this can be further supported because in a story in 2017, lauren says she likes to write music in a bathroom.

january 11th:

in the instagram live to celebrate the release of more than that, lauren showed off the new earrings that were gifted to her on christmas. at first she simply said ‘baby’ got them for her, but then she panicked and clarified that person she was talking about is ty, and she looked disgusted to say it. link. because of this unneeded coverup, those earrings were likely from camila.

in other news, dinah liked something somewhat suggestive involving the sun and moon:

january 12th:

this is where camila’s lies began. in order to push the narrative that matthew was her first real relationship, on the anniversary of CAMILA, she said that the songs on the album were not based on real relationships:

we know that to be false for many reasons, but mainly because she said the exact opposite thing herself in her zach sang interview about a year earlier.

besides the anniversary of CAMILA, britney spears celebrated the 20th anniversary of baby one more time on the same day. lauren just so happened to follow her and like her post about it:

though a reach, it was speculated that this was a nod towards camila and not only britney.

january 15th:

lauren kind of shaded her label columbia by liking a post discussing how they don’t allow ‘risky’ material and that earl sweatshirt feels ‘free’ now that he isn’t signed to them:

that day, a low quality video of camila and matthew attempting to be affectionate in what looks to be a candid setting (which is isn’t) circulated:

the following day, lauren tweeted this, possibly directed at how inorganic PR relationships are:

january 17th

during the hilarity of the world record egg, jayecane on twitter gave themselves that display name, and camila followed them while they were obsessively spamming about lauren:

january 18th:

in an IG story about the more than that music video, the bad things music video was present in lauren’s suggestions:

taking youtube’s algorithm and bad things’ release date into consideration, this suggests that lauren frequently watches camila’s videos.

january 26th:

coincidence?

january 27th:

at 1:55pm EST, camila posted a video of a boy singing a song on her story, which included the lyrics “i’ll be right next to you”. link

exactly one minute later at 1:56pm, lauren posted this:

january 30th:

in her beats1 interview, lauren revealed that her and ty had spent three months apart in the spring/summer of 2018 when things got busy. however, lauren and ty were seen together at least once a month that year. creds to totallylost4you for compiling this evidence.

a slightly more fitting scenario would be lauren and camila being apart for three months at a time. the never be the same tour started in spring, and that, as well as the reputation stadium tour, carried on into the summer:

almost exactly three months after april 9th, camila had a week long break:

january 31st:

lauren told us to shut the fuck up:

same day, camila posted this to twitter and instagram:

about an hour later, lauren seemingly replied. as january was a rather quiet month for both girls, it felt less than coincidental for a lot of people:

on february 13th, lauren liked this post on instagram, which really sealed the deal:

this indirect went on to be a reference to dream of you off of romance.

february 8th:

camila listened to sweet disposition from one of her moon playlists:

february 10th (the GRAMMYs lightning round):

coincidence?

who are you talking about dinah?

dinah jane strikes again!

lauren’s turn now:

february 12th:

arturo sandoval, the trumpet player from the grammys havana performance, liked a camren post:

camila was on lauren’s IG feed (haha):

february 14th:

lauren put another tally on the prison wall. tara got fake internet mad.

perhaps the most amusing part of this day was that ‘lauren’ posted a video to her story identical to the one ty posted about 18 hours beforehand... in the middle of their dinner she was posting about. spoiler alert, someone accidentally posted the video that was only meant for ty to post on lauren’s story.

february 18/24th:

roses:

maybe a small coincidence:

camila’s got a ‘boyfriend’ anyway:

february 19th:

lauren and ty took a jarring picture at a party and lauren posted it on her story except it was the one where one of the owners of laurmilaupates photoshopped ty out of it:

february 21st:

lauren liked amber rose’s video of her son singing havana:

february 23rd:

lauren missed her banana-loving girlfriend:

february 24th:

camila took one of lauren’s books:

february 26th:

hello dinah:

march 2nd:

keep that fingernail trimmed camila:

march 3rd:

snippets of camila’s birthday post that stuck out (?!!!):

lauren loves camila to pisces pieces:

march 4th:

camila listened to sweet disposition again, this time on her ‘love’ playlist:

march 5th:

we see you lauren:

i know somebody with ocean eyes, camila...

march 13th:

shotty photoshop alert:

march 17/24th:

a little too in sync:

they might have also walked the same trail in LA:

march 28th:

alejandro sanz posted multiple teasers for mi persona favorita’s music video, but camila only liked the one featuring two women in a romantic relationship:

march 29th:

mike liked a video of someone painting lauren and mi persona favorita was playing in the background:

part 2

#2019 #recap

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writingisbetterthandying · 5 years

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Misunderstanding - GD

A/N: This was the first fic-fic I actually wrote so I edited it so let’s see how it does!

legitimately very cringy but I chose to keep it up! I wrote this in 2018?

Warnings: Language, Angst

Word Count: 1.8k

Your POV

I love Grayson Bailey Dolan. That is a fact. A well known fact to almost everybody, or at least that's what I thought.

We met three years ago in Jersey, when I was with my grandparents for the summer. I was reaching for a pancake mix, but it had been conveniently placed on the very top shelf. A cute boy with brown hair saw me struggling handed me the box.

We exchanged numbers and talked for a while before heading our separate ways. That boy was Grayson.

We spent the entire summer together [with Ethan too] and then I had found out that they would be moving to LA, where I already lived. We've been dating for almost three years, and it's been a dream. One of the reasons why we've lasted this long is our shared love for film, which is actually why I'm still in LA (besides the twins), is that I'm in film school, and I help them film all the time.

I'm working on a project for one of my classes, and to switch things up, I decided to use my friend Kian as a subject. The twins also happened to be in New York at the moment for TRL, but I still did want to spend time with Kian. Things were always a little tense with the twins and Kian, with the whole Meredith situation, but they both respected my relationship with the other.

Kian being one of my best friends, had asked me to come over and hang out, and then I asked him if his house members would want to be in my short film.

They said yes, so I drove over with all of my equipment.

When I knocked on the door, JC answered and we caught up a little before Kian saw me and toppled me before I even got through the door.

"You ready to film!!?!??" He practically yelled into my ear.

"Okay first off, lower your voice, and don’t forget Lawley, this is still my project."

"Yes ma'am," he said with a little salute.

Almost 3 hours later, filming was done.

"Great job everybody! Thank you for allowing me to do my film y’all, I should get home and edit, but I'll see you guys soon and send you the finished project!"

I was met with a cacophony of "But it's late!" "You should stay the night" "Don't go Y/N!" "We love you please stay!"

I finally gave in, slipped my shoes back off, put down my bag, and plopped on the couch.

"Okay then, what movie are we watching?"

"Well are you guys ready for a Jim Carrey marathon?"

Shouts of disagreement were spread out throughout the room.

"Rude- like you didn't have to be so mean about it like I thought we were friends guys! I thought you guys loved me but I guess none of you would care if I just locked myself in my room all night and cried. Like-" Bobby on the opposite couch had had enough.

"Kian if you don't shut up right now I swear I will lock you out of the house and clear out your room and you can find it all on the curb tomorrow morning."

"But then Y/N could just welcome me into her home."

I shook my head and told him he was on his own, and in return was promptly flipped off.

We eventually started a High School Musical marathon but soon everyone went to their rooms or fell asleep, so it was just me and Kian. He turned to me once the movie ended.

"Y/N, wake up!" I groaned in response, still only half awake.

"You should spend the night man, it’s late."

At this I startled awake, remembering that the twins were supposed to come in from their flight around this time.

"No- I have to get home!"

"Wait why? It’s after midnight?"

"I don't know when Gray gets back, well I do, but you know it’s late, and I want to be there when he gets home."

"God, you're such a nice girlfriend. Okay, go home, but please be safe driving!"

"Thank you Kian, I love you!"

"Love you too now go get your mans!"

I finally got home after the short drive and got up to the house. Once I unlocked the door, I screamed at first, because I was scared that it could have been an intruder, and then it turned to excitement. Gray was home.

"Hi bubba I'm glad you're home!" I leaned in to hug Gray, but he didn't accept the embrace. "Is everything okay? How was set?"

"I dunno, how about you ask Kian," he responded curtly. He seemed tense and honestly pissed.

"You know Kian is just a friend, bubba." Who does he think he is?

Grayson's POV: 3 hours ago

We had boarded the plane a while ago when Ethan showed me a picture of my girlfriend all cuddled up with Kian on Harrison's instagram. The caption was "harrisonwebb97 the gabriella to his troy.

"What the hell is this??"

"Gray, they're just friends. I don’t like him but they’re close. "

"Friends don't hold each other like that. And that caption too- like what the fuck dude?"

"She's known Kian for forever though, have trust in her, plus like look at everyone right next to them too."

"I'll text her later." I did text her later, a lot actually.

where are you?

getting on the plane...

i love you

is your phone off?

please answer me

y/n answer me wtf is going on rn

are you having fun?

kian looks like he's having a blast, holding you like that

i bet you and kian hooked up after that picture on harrison's instagram

well now i'm not the only one in LA.

whatever, I'll see you at home

maybe I should have kissed that fan at the airport, she probably would be less of a slut then you.

Delivered 11:34 pm

I left voicemails too. I knew they were just friends, but she would've answered me by now- she always answers. The delay could only mean one thing. At first I was upset and hurt but now I'm pissed. This is all so stupid.

Grayson's POV: Present

"And friends lend each other sweatshirts." She should know what she did.

"What are you talking about?"

It took her a while before she realized she was wearing Kian's sweatshirt. "He gave it to me while we were watching the movies, I was cold, that's all."

"That doesn't even make sense but what were you doing there in the first place?"

Your POV

Now I was mad. I thought that after everything he would understand that I was loyal to him and only him. He knows that Kian and I are friends.

"I was there to shoot my project and then they asked me to stay for some movies! And it’s just a damn jacket, Gray." He wasn't the only one angry now.

"Well why didn't you answer your phone?"

"My phone was off? You know that- whenever I shoot I have my phone off! Sorry I forgot to turn it back on? What’s your deal right now, because you’re getting so aggro I’m starting to get mad.”

"Check your phone." His face was stoic, and he completely dismissed my words.

I read the messages. All of them. I didn't even want to think about what was on that voicemail. He knew my insecurities-he knows them.

His words had tears starting to trickle down my face, "You don't trust me?" How could he be so presumptive? There’s never been anything like that between Kian and I or anyone else but him for that matter.

"Why should I? I mean you're the one whoring around." His face was blank- and it was scary. Scary how when he’s usually just such a bright and uplifting person, to this dark and angry guy.

The tears just kept on coming, and I could do nothing to stop them. After everything, and this is how he treats me? After one post on social media, he’s calling me such horrible names?

He started to turn away towards the door with his still packed suitcase.

"Three years," I mumbled through my tears. He probably couldn't even be bothered to hear me.

"What?" As he turned around I could tell he was annoyed, but I was heartbroken because my boyfriend, or ex boyfriend- whatever he was now- had said these things. I couldn’t believe how the person I trust the most could be saying such vile and hateful things.

"Three years of trust, of an honest and strong relationship! Gray- I love you. I love you and only you. I thought we had established that but I guess we aren’t on the same page. Kian and I have never been anything more than friends, and you know he has a thing for Franny. I was cold! That was all! I turn my phone off when I film, and you of all people should know this. When I walked through that door I expected to see the man I love almost as excited to see me as I was for him, because of how much I love and miss you. You know that I trust you. You know how I feel about the literal millions of girls pining after you day after day, yet somehow I’m the one you chose. I thought that we had a mutual understanding and that we both trusted another and that we loved each other. I love you Grayson Bailey Dolan. Why can't you see it? Everyone else can."

At the last line I fell to my knees as I sobbed. My body wouldn't stop shaking and my face was probably all blotchy and puffy but I didn't care, I just felt heartbroken.

Grayson's POV

I knew I fucked up. We've gotten into fights before, but nothing too major, and they've been small and it ends with some ice cream. Cute and happy couple-y shit. Not tonight- tonight the only sound in the apartment was the sound of her soft and shaking sobs.

"Look I'm sorry I neve-"

"Why? I mean the things you said," she croaked, and I felt my heart break when I saw the look in her eyes, filled with sadness and fear.

"I was scared, I mean like Look at Kian! He could have anyone." She started to almost laugh? I swear I heard her chuckle.

"Grayson, I told you. Kian has a thing for Franny, and it is mutual, they just aren't official yet. I love you, and only you, and Kian's my friend and all, but I would never actually date him. He’s basically my brother! I don’t see why you can’t just believe what I have to say!”

She was still crying and all I wanted was to hold her. And to apologize over and over again, and to tell her how stupid I was for ever making her so upset.

I wrapped my arms around her, and while she still was tense, she relaxed slightly. I rocked the two of us in silence for a bit, then decided to speak.

"I'm an idiot." She scoffed at that.

"That has been established."

"And an asshole."

"Yes."

"And extremely jealous..."

"No shit Sherlock! What the hell was that!" She slapped my arm with that, but I know she intended no harm.

"...and a terrible boyfriend." This received no response, so I continued. "I shouldn't have acted the way I did. I should never have said the things that I did, regardless of if it was an impulsive move or not. Y/F/N Y/M/N Y/L/N I love you and I fucked up. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I promise to never doubt your love and trust again. Hell, I don't want to spend the rest of my life with you, I want to spend eternity with you, and there's no way you’re getting rid of me. I want to raise a family with you. I want to move back to Jersey with you, I want to live my life with you, and I want everything, but I only want it with you-and now you're crying again." She had turned around, and was holding me close.

"You want a family in Jersey? With me?" She looked up at me with tears still in her eyes, this time hopefully happy tears, but she still sounded scared and unsure. That uncertainty in our future made me feel so horrible.

"Of course. You're the one thing always on my mind and I love you, and only you, forever and always."

"Forever and always" she whispered, and she looked up at me, and now she's actually smiling! "Bailey, I love you, but don't test me again, okay?" she was finally wiping the tears off of her beautiful face.

"I got you Y/N, and I love you too, now lets go to bed okay?"

"Okay."

It would be alright, with time, but for now, they both just needed to hold each other and sleep it off.

#dolan twin imagine #dolan twins #grayson dolan angst #grayson dolan imagine #grayson dolan imagines #grayson x reader #grayson dolan #ethan dolan imagines #ethan dolan #ethan dolan imagine

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smallpersiankitten · 7 years

Text

Monster Lover

Read the archive link here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12195630

(Before we start. Hi! This piece is heavily inspired by Piers Anthony's "Zombie Lover." If you haven't read any of his books about the world of Xanth, I really suggest you do. They're delightful and witty and probably some of the first few books I read that legitimately got me into adult literature (Classic literature doesn't count).This isn't technically part of the Must Love Animals Universe so you could read this without reading those stories. I hope you enjoy.)

You couldn’t believe how exhausted you were as you continued to hike in the forest. It was really pretty, you had to admit and you had plenty of time to admire it as you took many stops to catch your breath. You probably would have been more rested had you not stayed up super late chatting with your crush.

You hadn’t planned on it but the minute he asked you if you were free for a video chat later this evening, you just couldn’t say no. As soon as you got home, you had spent your entire evening with your head in the girly magazine you had stolen from work. You highlighted and circled all the beauty and seduction tips. And then spent the last 45 minutes before the call putting on extensive make up but at the same time trying to make it look as natural as possible to get that “just woke up look.” At 8:30 at night.

He was impressed or at least he said he was after being 15 minutes late to the video call. But hey! It’s the thought that counts. You flirted and he flirted back and by the time you were making plans to meet up again, it was nearly 1am. One of the last things he did say was how much he enjoyed girls taking photos in nature.

Hence why you were here. In the forest. He invited you to a get together with some friends in the woods and what perfect way to surprise him than to take a forest photo of your own. Or at least a better one than Brittany.

She had posted one of her sitting on a tree, her hair braided finely into a handmade necklace of daisies and lilacs as she looked out at the rising sun. She was just so fucking perfect and even though you were straight, you couldn't help but feel a slight girl boner for her. Even after she hashtagged it with #soblessed.

Your crush had not only liked it, but wrote “You're so cute! Can't wait to see you 2nite!” Argh! You know you were being ridiculous and it was probably due to the fact that you were about to start your period. Damn you hormones for making you so emotional. Why did you wear a skirt?!

You were getting sidetracked. You only had a few hours left before the party at the cottages and you couldn't risk showing up without having posted one nature photo of you. You scouted for the perfect spot.

You really didn't want to climb a tree. It would look like you had copied her. Plus you didn't want to get sap in your clothes. You walked past a particular opening only to stop and double back. “Woah.”

You almost didn't see it at first as the low hanging willow leaves acted as almost a veil to the small opening before you. You gently pushed it aside to enter. Moss covered rocks surrounded by a collection of brightly colored wildflowers existed before you. It was rather quiet as you wandered inside, the only other sound was the crunch of wood as you stepped on a broken, weathered sign.

You pulled out your phone and broke out into a smile. There was just the right amount of natural light filtered by the leaves, to set you up for a perfect shot. You spotted a rock large enough to be a bed that was covered in thick moss.

“Maybe I could go for a like sleeping beauty motif thing here,” you contemplated. You climbed onto the rock and lied down, expecting the surface to not look as soft as it appeared.

To your surprise, it was. “Oh, this, this isn't actually too bad.” You settled in before pulling out your phone. Right. Photo time. You posed and smiled as sweetly as you could before snapping a bajillion photos. You flipped through them deleting almost all of them until you found a few that were the closest to what you wanted. Looking innocent and naughty at the same time? Yeah, that was kind of physically impossible.

Not that you weren't a little bit of both. Sure you had taken dicks and gone down on more than a couple of them but you hadn't taken any up the butt so did that make you slightly innocent still? Yes? No? Fuck it, you were so going to get a better photo than Brittany if it was the last thing you did.

Finally, a lucky photo was snapped and you were soon choosing a filter for it. You paused on one that looked like it put a colorful crown of flowers on your head and quickly tapped it. Well, well, look at you. You were starting to look like quite the forest princess there. Your eyes lit up and darted to the little description box. Yes. Forest princess had a nice ring to it. You tapped eagerly on your phone’s keyboard, fitting the caption “Forest Princess” just underneath your shot before posting it online.

You waited, constantly tapping the refresh button. You went to hit it for the 27th time when you stopped. He had liked your photo. Your crush had liked your photo You let out a muted squeal and scrolled down. He left a comment! A comment.

“You’re so beautiful! Tonight can’t come fast enough. <3”

You unmuted your squeal and kicked your legs in the air girlishly. “Ahhh!!! He said I’m beautiful! He put a heart next to it!” You clutched your phone to your chest. “This, this is the best day ever!” It felt like you were in high school all over again with butterflies in your chest and your voice jumping an octave or two into unintelligible jumble.

You felt yourself grow sleepy as the excitement began to ebb over you. You had a few hours before the party. It wouldn’t do you any good to stay up and get there early only to pass out. Maybe a tiny nap here wouldn’t hurt. No one said there were bears in this part of the forest. And you were pretty secluded so you doubted anyone would jack your shit. You snuggled into your mossy bess and felt yourself drifting off to sleep to the sounds of the birds and nature.

~~~~~~

You awoke to the feeling of suffocation, sending you into an immediate panic. You resisted the impulse to flail as you woke up fully. You opened your eyes only for them to widen in surprise. Something was on top of you, pressing you against your makeshift bed. Oh my God. Was a bear trying to eat your face?! The absence of pain and the prolonged pressure against your lips clued you on to the fact that you weren’t being eaten. You were being kissed.

Who was kissing you? And why weren’t you stopping them? Maybe, it was a kinda nice kiss, maybe not as soft as you liked but for teeth, you really couldn’t complain...hold up, teeth? What in God’s name were you kissing? The realization that it was something inhuman propelled you to act. Your hands quickly shot out and pushed your “attacker” off of you.

You sat up and quickly felt yourself over. Your clothes were still on. Good. You turned your attention to the intruder. “Hey, buddy, what the fu-fuck…?” Your words died in your throat as you stared at the figure in front of you.

The first image that came to mind was a prince. A prince in shiny armor. Of course, the image was shattered the second you realized that the prince was nearly 8ft tall. And he had no skin. You probably should have stated that second fact first. It just seemed the more disconcerting of the two. Holy shit, it was a skeleton.

The skeleton cleared its throat and attempted to speak.

“WHAT ARE YOU?” You beat him to it.

The skeleton stopped and grinned. How did a skull grin? “I’m a skeleton.”

“No shit,” you gasped. “Why were you kissing me?”

“Oh!” The skeleton appeared to blush. How did he do that? “Well, I figured that would be the best way to wake up my future bride!”

“You don’t wake up total strangers with-BRIDE?” You croaked.

He nodded. “Well, yes, I must admit, I was really worried when I came here that I was going to find some really frumpy looking Monster but this is a pleasant surprise indeed. Even though you are human.”

“I-uh, what? What’s wrong with me being human?” You asked.

“Oh! Nothing. Well, not to me. Maybe to others that could be a problem! But definitely not to me! I just don’t meet many humans, much less a member of royalty!”

“A member of royalty?” You echoed.

“I assumed being a princess meant you were royalty?”

“I-what makes you say that?”

He nodded and pulled out a cellphone. “This is your royal portrait, yes?”

You looked at the phone. “Is that my cell phone?! Give me that!” You snatched the phone from his grasp and stared down at the picture. It was the photo you had taken for your crush. Now shared over several different mediums. The words “Forest Princess” taunted you back as the skeleton continued.

“Yes, your majesty. Your followers really love you. You have at least 500 likes.”

“500? Did you say 500 likes?” You echoed disbelievingly, scrolling down. “I’ve never gotten that many likes before,” you muttered.

“You are quite popular. I don’t see your crown anymore. Is it made of magic?” Your picture had spread like wildfire. There were people you didn’t even know commenting from everything to compliments to phone numbers to links to their own pages. And the number was continuously growing. You shook your head. Focus.

“Hold up, no, no. I’m not...There must be a mistake. You must have me confused for someone else.”

“You were sleeping here in the Grove of Love, weren’t you?”

“Well, uh yeah, just to take a nap.”

“So you understand.”

“Understand what? What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you read the sign?”

“Sign?”

“Hmm. Let me see if I can-there it is! It must have fallen off the entrance.” The skeleton realized, reaching down and freeing the wooden sign you had stepped on earlier. He cleared his throat (again, how) and read outloud: “When a woman wants to marry, she sleeps in the Grove of Love. Only a being of good appearance, character and breeding can enter. If he chooses her, he kisses her awake.” He chuckled.

Your eyes widened. “Marry?” You quickly stood up and ran your fingers through your hair. “This-this was a huge mistake. I didn’t see the sign! I was just taking a nap!”

“Oh. Well, live and learn, I suppose. Now come along. We have a lot of planning to do.”

“No! I can’t marry you!” You tried to slide toward the exit only for him to step in your path.

“I will marry you and make you Queen of the Monsters.”

“Queen of what?”

“Monsters. What I am.”

“I thought you were a skeleton,” you couldn’t help but add.

“Well, yes, but a skeleton is a type of Monster.”

“I’m confused,” you admitted.

“Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to learn all about our customs on our honeymoon,” he assured you, attempting to place an arm around you.

You dodged that fucker like a snake. “No. There won’t be a honeymoon! Because we’re not getting married!”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that. Once you have decided to let someone marry you, you can’t just back out of it. That’s very rude.”

“I didn’t decide to marry anyone! You forced yourself on me!”

“A peck on the lips isn’t forcing myself on you.”

“It is when they’re unconscious!”

“I-ah, I suppose you’re right. I’m still getting the hang of this true love kiss thing. Here let me try again.” Before you could react, he pulled you into another kiss. And this time it was smoldering, not smothering. You felt your knees grow weak and you unconsciously clutched his shoulder to steady yourself as you saw fireworks. By the time he pulled away, you were practically dazed.

“Woah.”

“I was hoping to hear that. Now come along.” He swooped you up bridal style and walked gingerly out of the grove and into the forest.

You blinked. “Wait, I don’t-we can’t just plan a wedding like that!”

“Sure we can. I have lots of hardworking subjects!”

“What would my parents say?”

“They can come too!”

You were running out of immediate arguments. “I don’t even know your name!”

“Wow, how awkward. I really should introduce myself before I start passionately smooching beautiful women. I am the Great Papyrus, King of the Monsters!” He nuzzled the side of your neck. “We are going to have quite the adventure!”

No doubt about that.

(I originally planned for this to be a one shot, but if you guys like this, I could probably continue it)

#undertale #papyrus #fanfic #story

23 notes · View notes

cash4youblog · 7 years

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The Most Important Lesson I Learned During My Social Media Detox

On the morning of April 29th, I deleted the Instagram app from my phone. It was the last social media app to go, as I had deactivated my Facebook account in 2016 and removed the Twitter app from my phone in March. I never thought I would delete the Instagram app, because of all the social media platforms out there, it had always been my favourite. But after yet another sleepless night in April, I could no longer hide from the truth: my anxiety had fueled a new level of addiction to my phone and I had to kick it.

I say I “had” to kick it because being addicted to looking at my phone and at social media does not align with my values. Over the past few years, I think you’ve all witnessed some of the transformations I’ve made in my life, including falling in love with the outdoors, and wanting to spend less time working and more time living. My phone is a great tool, in that it can help me navigate new territory and take pictures along the way. But it can’t help me do any of the other “living” I want to do; neither can social media.

Even though spending a lot of time looking at my phone or at social media doesn’t align with my values, I’m not immune to getting sucked in. Sure, I’m fairly self-aware, but I’m not a robot. I don’t operate on command, and I don’t automatically shutdown at certain times of the day. In April, I learned the exact opposite was true: when I was anxious, I looked at it more; went further down the rabbit hole; and felt worse about everything I found. On the morning of April 29th, I knew my online life needed a reset. It was time for a social media detox.

The Rules for My Social Media Detox

In the past, I will admit I have been hesitant to do any type of social media detox. My reasoning: I felt it was a necessary part of life, and that we should simply learn how to use it more mindfully rather than ban ourselves completely. (Yes, I’m aware of the irony that this thought came from the same girl who banned herself from shopping for two years. What can I say? Humans are complex! And I was a Communications major who, at one time, truly loved social media.) Still, once you see something, you can’t unsee it. So, when I finally saw how unhappy looking at social media made me, I knew I needed a break from it.

The rules for my social media detox were simple:

remove all social media apps from my phone

logout of all social media sites on my computer

use Buffer to schedule posts for my blog and Rockstar Finance

and don’t check any of my profiles!

The 30-day social media detox was intended to last from April 29th to May 28th. I was hesitant to walk away for such a long period of time, especially since I work for myself and have an “online presence” or whatever you want to call it. But like most of the other challenges I’ve set for myself, I knew this one was essential. In fact, tuning in to what my body and mind ask for would end up being just one of the many lessons I would take from this experience. But before I jump into the lessons, I should first tell you how the detox went, including some of the things I noticed about myself – and others – when I was offline.

How I Used Social Media Before the Detox

To have a better understanding of what this detox entailed, you should have a clear picture of exactly what type of social media user I was when I started. As I mentioned, I had already deleted the Facebook and Twitter apps from my phone. I deleted Facebook altogether in May 2016, but I still managed a few business pages and groups, which I did from my computer. And I checked Twitter regularly on my computer, as well, but didn’t feel the need to have 24/7 access to it from my phone. I deleted the Twitter app in March, and had enjoyed feeling slightly less connected without it.

The one app I still checked often was Instagram. I have always loved Instagram. It has allowed me to share pictures of the beautiful scenery I’m surrounded by every day, and helped me discover new places to explore. I have also met some of my closest friends on Instagram! The first friend I made when I moved to Port Moody and the first friend I’ve made since moving to Squamish are both people I had connected with on Instagram. Our conversations started online, but through the pictures and stories we shared, we knew we could probably take them offline too – and we did!

The day I decided to make my Instagram profile a “business profile” was the day I started to get a little less enjoyment from the app. Instead of simply posting a picture, I started to look at how that picture was performing. I also found myself having more conversations with friends about how to optimize posts in order to get more likes. It was all about the likes. What I wrote in the captions was honest, but the profiles I tagged and the hashtags I used were intentionally chosen in the hopes it would bring in more likes. And if I didn’t get enough engagement with a post, I genuinely felt like it wasn’t a good enough picture. It wasn’t fun anymore; it was business. The same became true with Twitter and my tweets.

Even though it felt like business, Instagram – like all social media platforms – was also a rabbit hole. It was too easy to see I was tagged in a post, check out the picture, read the comments, reply to the post, then visit the profile of the person who took the picture, check out a few more of their pictures, look at the list of profiles similar to theirs, check out their pictures, and so on and so forth. All of a sudden, 10 or 20 minutes had gone by, and I had forgotten why I’d opened up the app to begin with. That’s not to say I never found or connected with cool people that way, but this happened way more often than I liked.

I knew things were really bad when my insomnia on April 28th caused me to pick up my phone at 11pm, 12am, 12:30am, 12:40am, 12:50am 1am, 1:10am … until I finally passed out around 3:30am. The dogs woke me up at 6:30am, and I knew I couldn’t survive like that another day. My anxiety had fueled a new level of addiction to my phone and I had to kick it.

What My Life Was Like Without Social Media

I don’t think I’ll bore you with all the nitty gritty details of what each and every day looked like. (I did keep a journal and documented most of them, but it’s not exactly an exciting read!) Instead, I’ll share some of the things that stood out most to me. The first thing I noticed, of course, was how often I reached for my phone. As soon as I clicked the home button, however, I realized the only thing I could check was my email. Email is my least favourite communication tool, so I didn’t check it very often. I just spent ~14 days reaching for my phone, realizing I didn’t care if I had new email then putting it down again. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

The second thing I noticed, in those first two weeks, was how many times I thought about posting pictures of what I was doing. I would be out on a hike and still take pictures, but would think to myself, “If I don’t post this, did it really happen?” Obviously, laughter ensued. Instead of posting pictures, however, I sent them to the one or two people I really wanted to share them with. This meant a handful of friends got a lot more pictures delivered via iMessage, and I got to have a lot of meaningful conversations with them.

That brings me to my third point, which is that I strengthened a handful of friendships during my social media detox. Instead of simply double-tapping a picture on Instagram or replying to a tweet, we had real conversations – via text, the phone, Skype, etc. Two friends, in particular, quickly became the people I spoke to on an almost-daily basis. To counter that, unfortunately, I also found a few of my friendships quietened down or died off. I don’t know if that’s because I was offline, or because we have gone down different paths lately. But it did make me think about how the connections we “maintain” online aren’t always meant to last forever.

Finally, one of the best – and most unexpected – outcomes was that I slept better than I had in months. Since October, I had been in a new and terrible sleeping pattern. I was lucky if I could get six hours a night, and especially lucky if I could sleep in past 6am. Within the first few days of my social media detox, I was getting at least eight hours of sleep and was sleeping in until 7-7:30am! The non-morning people probably still think that’s too early, but this felt incredible to me. The bags under my eyes started to diminish, I had more energy and just felt better overall each day – all because I wasn’t checking Instagram before bed.

Of course, some of these things changed when Molly passed away. Namely, I went back to not sleeping very well. All I did was hangout with (and worry about) Lexie. She had spent her entire life with Molly, and I didn’t want her to be alone. I also didn’t want to be alone, but didn’t want to leave the house without her. So, I decided to quit the detox early and downloaded Instagram on May 22nd. There was nothing impulsive about this. I just wanted to share the news (writing little obituaries for Molly and Lexie was part of my healing process) and share pictures and videos of my time with Lexie during her final days. <3

Other Observations I Made During My Social Media Detox

So, it wasn’t a perfect slow living experiment. I witnessed some positive differences in my behaviour and built upon a handful of existing friendships. Being offline also helped me stay more present and alert with the girls, during the time they needed me the most (and that’s time I could never have gotten back). But I did genuinely miss a few things about social media, during those 23 days (I only stayed off Facebook for the full 30). Specifically, there were two friends who were on big life-changing journeys, and I missed reading their updates on Instagram, and seeing pictures and videos from the beautiful places they were visiting.

There are a few other observations I made during my social media detox:

I tracked how many hours I was using my phone with the Moment app, and found I spent only 35% of my usual time on it without social media. It also (obviously) held a charge for a lot longer.

I can’t tell if it made me any more productive. I finished the second draft of The Year of Less, but I also quit freelancing (more on that later) and spent a lot of time doing nothing.

I did feel out of the loop on things, like current events. To be fair, I could have done a better job of checking the news on various sites. It just didn’t feel important compared to what was happening right in front of me at home. And I will never regret being uninformed for one month.

I found myself in a lot of conversations with friends who asked, “did you hear about X thing happening in Y city or to Z person?” When I said no and asked for more details, they couldn’t give me any. “That’s all I know,” they said. That’s all most of us know, if we don’t read past the headlines. And that’s what we do: think that what we can learn in 140 characters is enough to stay “in the loop”.

And one observation I’ve made since starting to use Instagram again is somewhat surprising: fewer people text me. I don’t know if it’s because they are now getting updates about me online, but I feel as though I’ve had fewer (and less meaningful) conversations since posting again. That’s something I need to think about more, which brings me to my final thoughts on this experiment.

How I Plan to Use Social Media in the Future

I had such a negative mindset about social media, when I started the detox, that I honestly thought I would be deleting some of my profiles by the end. Twitter had been fuelling my anxiety for weeks, as had Facebook the year before. I knew I wouldn’t delete Instagram, but I also knew the way I’d been using it had to change. I was so convinced I would be anti-social media, by the end of this, that I actually wrote an outline for the post where I would announce why I was walking away from it. Instead, I’ve gone back to my original thought: that we should simply learn how to use it more mindfully rather than ban ourselves completely.

When I looked back at that post I had drafted, I realized most of the reasons I was thinking about quitting social media were related to the fact that it wasn’t fun anymore. Some of that is because what we see online has been extremely negative (even downright mean) since the election. But it’s also because I had turned it all into business. I had never been someone who cared about the numbers, and then one day I started paying attention to them. I also started caring about the overall look/feel of my profiles. I thought that was what I was “supposed to do” in order to grow my business or to seem more legit (and imagine many bloggers and online business owners feel the same).

I’ve bucked most of the trends of what we’re “supposed to do” for years. I’ve never followed thousands of people in hopes they will follow me in return. I’ve always known I would rather have fewer followers who engage with my content rather than an inflated number that makes me seem more important. I also refuse to schedule content to publish around the clock. The business blogs tell me it will increase my pageviews, but I would rather have all my interactions occur in real-time. These are just a couple of the ways I’ve stuck to my morals while building my business. The experts might tell me I’m doing it wrong, but doing things their way isn’t fun. And if it’s not fun, what’s the point?

The most important lesson I learned during my social media detox is to make your own rules. Click To Tweet

I’m going to ignore every article about how to increase my engagement and achieve some meaningless goal, and go back to doing what I used to do: sharing my story and connecting with people. Social media doesn’t have to suck. For as much as I was hating on Twitter earlier this year, I am in control of how I use it – and all social media platforms, for that matter. I know it’s a powerful tool, but I don’t care how it affects my business. I want the power to be all about the connections we make. I love hanging out with you guys (and am using this penguin picture to show you how much I love it). I just want to do it my way. Here’s what that will look like:

Facebook: I’ll still use it to share all my new blog posts, and some other posts I think you would like.

Twitter: Ditto. But I’ll never schedule anything. I only want to post things when I know I’ll be available to have a conversation with you.

Instagram: I actually think I’m going to use this platform a little more than usual (namely, stories). However, I won’t be tagging profiles or using hashtags in posts. I don’t care how many people like my photos. I’ll share things because I want to, not because I want it to get any amount of validation.

Also, if the thought of using social media strategically makes you feel icky, go look at how some of the people you look up to in your industry use it. For me, that meant looking at the profiles of Cheryl Strayed and Elizabeth Gilbert and Glennon Doyle Melton. These women don’t have strategies. They all do things differently but have one thing in common: they post what comes from the heart.

Experiment #5: Slow Technology

All-in-all, while I didn’t fully complete the slow living experiment I had mapped out, I still feel incredibly happy with the lessons I took away from it.

do a 30-day social media detox (April 29th – May 28th) – 76% complete

figure out the role I want social media to play in my life – done!

check/reply to email less often (also experiment with not checking on my phone) – done!

figure out the role I want technology to play in my life (phone, computers, TV, etc.) – not really

read from a book every day – nope

As I am slowly easing myself back onto social media, there is one new habit I built this month that I hope I can hold onto forever: the feeling of not wanting to look at my phone very often. It’s hard to describe, but I genuinely feel an aversion to carrying my phone around with me and looking at it all the time. Yes, it can be a way to connect with people, but the connection you make when you sit across from someone and look them in the eyes is so much better. I vow to do a lot more of that in the future. <3

Books and Podcasts I Consumed This Month

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

The Magnolia Story by Chip and Johanna Gaines

At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider

Forward by Abby Wambach

The Slow Home Podcast with Brooke McAlary (loving the new meditation series!)

The Most Important Lesson I Learned During My Social Media Detox posted first on http://ift.tt/2sSbQiu

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carpediempagesite · 7 years

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The Most Important Lesson I Learned During My Social Media Detox

The Rules for My Social Media Detox

The rules for my social media detox were simple:

remove all social media apps from my phone

logout of all social media sites on my computer

use Buffer to schedule posts for my blog and Rockstar Finance

and don’t check any of my profiles!

How I Used Social Media Before the Detox

What My Life Was Like Without Social Media

Other Observations I Made During My Social Media Detox

There are a few other observations I made during my social media detox:

I tracked how many hours I was using my phone with the Moment app, and found I spent only 35% of my usual time on it without social media. It also (obviously) held a charge for a lot longer.

I can’t tell if it made me any more productive. I finished the second draft of The Year of Less, but I also quit freelancing (more on that later) and spent a lot of time doing nothing.

How I Plan to Use Social Media in the Future

The most important lesson I learned during my social media detox is to make your own rules. Click To Tweet

Facebook: I’ll still use it to share all my new blog posts, and some other posts I think you would like.

Twitter: Ditto. But I’ll never schedule anything. I only want to post things when I know I’ll be available to have a conversation with you.

Experiment #5: Slow Technology

All-in-all, while I didn’t fully complete the slow living experiment I had mapped out, I still feel incredibly happy with the lessons I took away from it.

do a 30-day social media detox (April 29th – May 28th) – 76% complete

figure out the role I want social media to play in my life – done!

check/reply to email less often (also experiment with not checking on my phone) – done!

figure out the role I want technology to play in my life (phone, computers, TV, etc.) – not really

read from a book every day – nope

Books and Podcasts I Consumed This Month

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

The Magnolia Story by Chip and Johanna Gaines

At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider

Forward by Abby Wambach

The Slow Home Podcast with Brooke McAlary (loving the new meditation series!)

The Most Important Lesson I Learned During My Social Media Detox posted first on cashforcarsperthblog.blogspot.com

0 notes

fesahaawit · 7 years

Text

The Most Important Lesson I Learned During My Social Media Detox

The Rules for My Social Media Detox

The rules for my social media detox were simple:

remove all social media apps from my phone

logout of all social media sites on my computer

use Buffer to schedule posts for my blog and Rockstar Finance

and don’t check any of my profiles!

How I Used Social Media Before the Detox

What My Life Was Like Without Social Media

Other Observations I Made During My Social Media Detox

There are a few other observations I made during my social media detox:

I tracked how many hours I was using my phone with the Moment app, and found I spent only 35% of my usual time on it without social media. It also (obviously) held a charge for a lot longer.

I can’t tell if it made me any more productive. I finished the second draft of The Year of Less, but I also quit freelancing (more on that later) and spent a lot of time doing nothing.

How I Plan to Use Social Media in the Future

The most important lesson I learned during my social media detox is to make your own rules. Click To Tweet

Facebook: I’ll still use it to share all my new blog posts, and some other posts I think you would like.

Twitter: Ditto. But I’ll never schedule anything. I only want to post things when I know I’ll be available to have a conversation with you.

Experiment #5: Slow Technology

All-in-all, while I didn’t fully complete the slow living experiment I had mapped out, I still feel incredibly happy with the lessons I took away from it.

do a 30-day social media detox (April 29th – May 28th) – 76% complete

figure out the role I want social media to play in my life – done!

check/reply to email less often (also experiment with not checking on my phone) – done!

figure out the role I want technology to play in my life (phone, computers, TV, etc.) – not really

read from a book every day – nope

Books and Podcasts I Consumed This Month

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

The Magnolia Story by Chip and Johanna Gaines

At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider

Forward by Abby Wambach

The Slow Home Podcast with Brooke McAlary (loving the new meditation series!)

The Most Important Lesson I Learned During My Social Media Detox posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnwIdQ

0 notes

gymviralscom · 7 years

Text

This Womans Butt Proves Weights In the Gym Mean More Than Weight On the Scale

Last July, Claire Maxwell, a twenty-eight-year-old registered nurse from Durham, North Carolina, fainted at work and broke her jaw when she hit the floor.

via: Instagram

As you can imagine, eating was nearly impossible when your jaw is wired shut, and she lost thirteen pounds from her 5-foot 9-inch frame, bottoming out at 117 pounds.

Given our often warped society’s view of thinness, it didn’t initially bother her to lose weight, even though she knew she was perfectly healthy before the accident.

“I knew I needed to gain back the weight but I didn’t see the hurry,” she admitted. “I didn’t think I looked unhealthy. I thought I looked fine…lean even. It wasn’t until I saw this photo that I remember thinking, ‘Oh, sh*t…definitely do not have a butt anymore.”

via: Instagram

It wasn’t until her jaw was unwired six weeks after her accident that Claire was able to dive into an aggressive weight-gain plan derived by a personal trainer friend, eating a high-carb, high-calorie diet containing more than 1,000 excess calories per day.

She also went back to a slightly tamer version of her old fitness routine involving weight-training andsome plyometrics.

Within a month, Claire gained roughly ten pounds, returning to her starting weight of 130 pounds.

via: Instagram

But because she was still recovering, she couldn’t lift that heavy and some of the weight she gained came in the form of fat.

A few weeks later thought, Claire had recovered enough to start lifting heavier weights with the goal of regaining her strength. Within two months, Claire’s body began to look and feel like it had before her fall. The only thing that changed was her body fat composition and muscle mass not her weight, which remained steady at 130 pounds.

But she still wanted to get that butt back, soshe stared doing a total of 4 1/2 hours of butt work at the gym each week.

I'll always take the days when I can have a killer leg day in my @womensbest As you guys know for the last few months I have really been focusing on growing my legs and booty. I decided not to do a true bulk since the wedding is coming up, but I increased my carbs and spent over 4 hours a week working out legs Growing up I was really awkward and gangly aka putting on muscle wasn't easy, and it still is difficult but I have to say that I feel pretty happy about my progress. I'm finally starting to feel a little more "solid" #whereisthedeadliftemoji . But now that the wedding is coming up in a few months, I'm going to cut my carbs a little bit to just lean out some. Don't get me wrong, i have been feeling great and love the progress but my abs aren't quite as defined. I know–I get that abs aren't everything. But for my wedding, I want to feel the best that I can in every aspect and if I can get a little more defined than I will put in the work to get it done I won't be in a true cut though, so my carbs aren't decreasing by that much which is nice. Between now and then I also won't have the time for 2 hour leg days so the decreased carbs helps balance that out . Just thought I'd update you guys! Also a full day of eating is now up on IG stories For anyone that asks, @paosfitworld calculates my macros. She my little macro queen #macrosbypao #legday #womenbest

A post shared by Claire (@cguentz.gofit) on Mar 19, 2017 at 6:11pm PDT

“I know it’s a lot,” she said. “But for someone who has a lean, delicate build, and given my fall, I had to put in a lot of work at the gym.”

Claire’s leg workouts consisted of bridges, cable-machine work, leg presses, split squats, weighted walking lunges, band work, hamstring curls, deadlifts, kickbacks, hip thrusts, kettlebell swings, and more, including 45-minute StairMaster sessions three times a week.

…AND GETS ALL UP IN YOUR FACEBOOK

More posts in #Gallery

This Teacher Was Fired Over Homework That Asked Inappropriate Questions

Guy Uses GoFundMe To Help Pay For a $15K Engagement Ring, Gets Immediately Roasted by the Internet

Woman Screams and Threatens Uber Driver With Rape Accusations For a RIDICULOUS Reason

‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Gets It So Wrong It’s Almost Admirable

Woman Has PERFECT Reply To Troll Who Said She’d Look Better With Lighter Skin

Her weight didn’t budge, but seven months later she got that booty back.

I know I've shared this before but I'm sharing it again because it seemed to resonate with a good amount of people. . On the left was a couple weeks after I had broken my jaw, and had lost over 10 lbs. initially. On the right is a week or so ago. Now, I have never been someone to fixate on my actual weight, I didn't even own a scale until last year. But, for whatever reason, seeing that lower number on the scale messed with my head a little bit. I knew I needed to gain back the weight, but I think there is this automatic association that weighing less is somehow better. Obviously this is not true but I think that has been engrained in us by society. And to be honest, I knew I needed to gain back the weight but I didn't see the hurry. I didn't think I looked unhealthy. I thought I looked fine…lean even. It wasn't until I saw this photo on the left that I remember thinking, "oh, shit…definitely do not have a butt anymore" Which yes, is funny to an extent…but it's also a little scary how something can be so engrained in us (a lower number on the scale) and us embody that without even knowing it. . Even for someone who doesn't use a scale (I just weigh myself for macro adjustments), I do understand how the number on the scale can have a big impact on someone. So I just really encourage you guys to adjust your goals based on what you see in the mirror and how you are feeling about your body (if that makes sense). Yes, the number on the scale CAN be an indicator of progress, but it is NOT the only indicator. I look at these photos and on the right is someone who is healthy, happy, confident, and those are the things that I strive for. Those are what will make your progress meaningful, not the number on the damn scale #screwthescale #gainingweightiscool

A post shared by Claire (@cguentz.gofit) on Apr 3, 2017 at 6:08am PDT

“A lower number on the scale is not necessarily an indicator of being healthier, more confident, ‘looking better’ etc.,” she said of times when she’s weighed more, but felt healthier, happier, and stronger.

“Those are the things that I strive for,” she wrote in a caption. “Those are what will make your progress meaningful, not the number on the damn scale.”

And that’s something we can all get behind (pun totally intended.)

Via: Cosmopolitan

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